Front drive power unit



July-21, 1931- l.. c. JosEPx-is, JR l 1,815,437

FRONT DRIVE POWER UNIT Filed Jan. 17. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l July 2l, 193,1.

L. lcz. JosEPl-ls, JR

FRONT DRIVE POWER UNIT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 1'7. 1930 heretoore'l1-sed, such units being turned end overexisting designs.

Patented July 2l, 193?.

LYMAN c. .'rosnrns, en, or ALLEN'IOWN, PENNSYLVANIA,` AssIGNOn 'ro INTER- 'i NATIONAL moron COMPANY, or NEW Yonx, N.- Y., A CORPORATION or DELAWARE FRONT DRIVE Pom UNIT Application filed January 17,1980.` Serial NO. 421,341.

The .present invention relates to improved drives for motor vehiclesand embodies, more specically, a vehicle upon which the power unit has been mounted at the front thereof, power being transmitted from the unit to the front steering wheels of the vehicle. More particularly, the present inventionembodiesl an improved form of front drive power unit which is so constructed that the engine and.

transmission may be mounted within a relatively small space, thus greatly facilitating the construction and servicing thereof.

At the present time, there have been provided severalV forms of front drive power units for motor vehicles; these power units being the standard motor vehicle power units as for end and utilized to drive the front wheels 'directly through a suitable dierential mechanism. While these constructions have by reason of the difficulty of mounting all of the parts within 4a well defined and restricted space in order that the length of the power unit will not consume too great a proportion of the wheel base of the vehicle,

`ireeordingly, itis an object of the present invention to provide an improved power unit for motor vehicles, such power unit being so constructed that considerable space is saved A further Object ofthe invention is to provide ta power unit of the above lcharacter which is so constructed as to afford an initerially improving the steering qualities ofA the vehicle.l

A. further object of the invention 1s to provide a suspension of the above character-"hyvl means of which center point steering isv edected A further Object of the invention is to provide a spring suspension of the above character in which the steering and brake connections to the huclle are considerablysimplii'id ad readily mounted and serviced.

Further objects, not specifically enumerated above, .will be apparent. as the invention i is described in greater `detail in connection the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is 'a view in front elevation showing a vehicle provided with a power unit and spring-suspension constructed in accordance with the present invention. l Figure 2 is a view inside elevation showing Vthe power unit ure l.

Figure 3 is a plan view, partly broken away and in section, showing the power unit of Figure l.

Referring to v.theabove drawings, a designates the vehicle frame which may be formed with a kick up at a', This lkick up receives theY front axle and associated driving units and preserves a'desirable over al1 height for and suspension of Fig-,

the passenger'carrying portion of the frame. Cross frame members a2 and as are rovidl ed at the forward end of the frame an mount a driving unit b which is self-contained and adapted to drive the forward wheels of the vehicle. Suitable trunnions a* and a5 are provided in .the respective cross frame members a2 and a3 and receive cooperating bearing portions 'of the power unit b.' An engine driven rotating element c is provided rear- Wardlyl of the trunnion aIi to afford a' means tfor providing an emergency-brakeforrthe vehicle while an, engine driven fan al is mounted forwardly of the'trunnion at. The' power unit is preferably rigidly mounted within the trunnion a5 at the rear, while the forward trunnion ai* receives thel driving shaft for the fan d.

Forwardly extending arms a mount a radiator support a7 upon which a radiator as is mounted. Extending downwardly from the cross 'frame member as and the radiator support a7 arebrackets e within which quarter elliptic springs e" are secured at their heavy Y ends. ltl is preferred that these spring-s be usedrin pairs, the heavy ends of each. pair being mounted in the respective brackets e and extending outwardly therefrom a diamond shaped pattern, as clearly shown in Figure 3. The outer ends of springs e are pivoted to the knuckle housings f, the springs being so mounted that the upper and lower spring sections form a vertical parallelogram.

Knuckle housings f carry the usual knuckles and mount an axle g'with which are associated wheels h. It will be readily, seen that, by means of this spring design, the knuckle may be mounted in the central planes of the wheels, thus providing center point steering in addition to affording a relatively small turning radius by reason of the fact that the spring sections do not obstruct a very considerable turning of the wheels.

Steering may be effected through suitable levers i mounted upon the respective knuckles and connected to drag links i which are pivoted to the respective arms i2 of a steering member 3. This member may be operated by any suitable means from a steering wheel conveniently located. This steering vthus' utilizes a double drag link, each being kept parallel with the vertical parallelogram of springs. In a similar fashion connections for front wheel brakes are provided, these connections not being shown in the interest of clearness.

The foregoing construction lends itself to a convenient location of the starting motor which is shown at y', as well as the generator and air compressor shown respectively at 7c and Z. The' distributor is shown as positioned at m and thus a very convenient and accessible mounting for the foregoing accessories is provided, .greatly facilitating the servicing of such parts fand insuring proper maintenance thereof. Y

The engine n is of the seven cylinder radial type. The engine block is rotatable with respect to the housing b, thus enabling the blocks to be rotated to any desired position to4 facilitate servicing thereof. A clutch n is driven by the engine, transmission n2 being driven from the clutch n as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 3. Cooperating gears n3 and n4 transmit the drive to a shaft n", mounted within the housing b. This shaft is provided with a hypoid pinion n for driving differential mechanism o, the drive being transmitted to the Wheels in a well known manner.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that a very short power unit is provided, thus saving considerable space on the chassis. All of the parts are mounted in a convenient manner, thus greatly facilitating propei` servicing and maintenance thereof, the rotatable engine blocks affording a particularly advantageous unit from the standpoint ofv maintenance. The entire power unit can he rulrout under the bus Without diiculty while the diamond layout of spring enables much longer springs to be used than in either a longitudinal or Vtransverse arrangement. Furthermore, the above spring design prevents any torsional stresses being set up in the springs, such as is common in transverse spring suspensions. Furthermore, the forea going spring suspension enables a wide tire tread to be used, at the same time maintaining a large turning angle of the Wheels Without interference of the springs, such as is common in longitudinal spring designs.

r The foregoing construction further provides center point steering since the knuckle housing and knuckle pin are mounted Within the wheel as clearly shown Figure 3.

A further advantage will be seen in the above cons truction since the brake and steering connections`may be maintained entirely separate and distinct7 each being directed l to the wheels through a separate route, thus eliminating any interference therebetween.

The well known advantages of the front drive power unit are thus combined with an improved power unit. which can be quickly removed from the bus in its entirety. It will furthermore be seen that by means of the foregoing construction, there need be no actual chassis frame since the body and frame can be built as a unit if desired.

Further advantages and changes in construction and design of the component parts of the foregoinv, invention will be apparent and the scope th reof is not to be limited, save as defined in the appended claims.

T claim as my invention:

l. Tn combination with a vehicle frame, an engine, a transmission rearwardly of the engine and driven thereby, a driving axle on the frame, a plurality of springs disposed generally in the shape of adiamond mounted upon the frame at ends thereof at opposite corners of the diamond and mounting the axle at the other ends thereof, means to mount the engine and transmission as a unit A within the diamond over the axle, a forwardly extending shaft driven from the transmissionA at the rear thereof, and means to drive the axle from thelast named shaft.

2. n combinationrwith a vehicle frame, a plurality of wheels, springs mounted Vupon the frame and diverging forwardly, common supporting means on the frame to mount the springs, springs mounted upon the frame and diverging rearwardly to meet the first springs, common means on the frame for supporting the springs, means to mount the wheels upon the meeting ends, a lever pivoted to one of the supporting means, and means connecting the lever with the wheels to steer the same. A

3. .in combination with a vehicle frame, a plurality ofV wheels, springs mounted upon the frame and diverging forwardly, common supporting means on the frame to mount the springs, springs mounted upon the frame and diverging rearwardly to meei'l the first springs, common means on the frame for supporting the springs, and means to mount the wheels upon the meeting ends.

This specification signed this seventh day of January, A. D. 1930.

LYMAN C.-JOSEPHS, JR. 

